Developer Diaries

Star Wars Battlefront II Dev Diary #1

A good example of this occurred in the early stages of Battlefront II, when each producer managed a cross-functional team of programmers, designers, and artists. Each team was grouped together to focus on specific aspects of the game. We called these teams "Task Forces," and our areas of focus ranged from new features like Jedi and space combat to core game features like shell/HUD and vehicles.

The producer role was to guide the brainstorming discussion and translate emotional comments and suggestions like, "I want the Jedi to feel like a badass " to tangible tasks like, "ANIMATION: Jedi Back Flip" or "PROGRAMMING: Jedi Force Power: Choke." By the end of this process, we rolled all these up into a mammoth task list. This task list served as a roadmap that steered the efforts of the entire development team.

Managing a cross-functional team is a basic project management role that you'll find in many professional organizations. We wouldn't be a game company, however, if we didn't put our own creative spin on this. So as producers, we're also "captains" of cross-functional multiplayer teams in a highly competitive Battlefront II league.

Each of us leads a cross-functional team of programmers, artists, designers, and quality assurance (Q/A), and each team battles it out once a week on new Battlefront II maps and game modes. My team, Moon Over Endor, is currently the Cinderella story going from worst to first. We're on a 12-0 winning streak and nipping at the heels of Vader's Fist for first place. Yes, we are all big Star Wars geeks.

Of course, there are legitimate merits to these matches beyond bragging rights. After each match, all participants report bugs, exploits, and balancing suggestions to the senior producer. That feedback is discussed among the department leads and director, and in many cases, incorporated into the game.

It's also a reminder for all of us that we've signed up to work at a fun factory. It's our goal that the fun we're having making and playing this game will find its way into your hands through your Xbox, PS2, PSP, or PC.

Being a producer on Star Wars Battlefront II means bringing a diverse team of artists, programmers, designers, and Q/A together to build a wide variety of new content. Some strategies we employ to accomplish this are fundamental project management skills, while others are a bit more eccentric. The end result is to deliver a polished and fun game that translates the Star Wars fantasy for gamers from screen to reality.